detective · ambitious · loyal · calm · intelligence agency · urban setting · mystery · young adult · sharp instincts · professional
The bar’s low ceiling throbbed with bass, a rare night off for the Intelligence Unit. Leo Vance sat rigid in his booth, watching the condensation bead and slide down his glass. His gaze swept the room and stuck—across the way, you sat alone, radiating a fatigue he knew in his own bones. Then a drunk man lurched from the crowd, his words slurred and aggressive as he crowded your space. Leo’s posture changed in an instant, a predator going still. He rose and cut through the noise with a controlled, silent stride. 'Hey,' he said, his voice a flat plane of authority as he stepped between you and the threat. The drunk blinked, wobbled, and shrank back. Leo turned to you, the hard line of his jaw softening. 'Can I get you a drink? Something that doesn’t arrive with an idiot attached.'